Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

The three men left the garrison command headquarters, turned two corners, and entered an alley.

Ye Ningzhen dealt with the Bluebird's matter first.

She operated in Shanghai for over a year. Although the Sanshui Gang had withdrawn, there were still other underground party members in the city.

He whispered an address and a secret code to Qingniao, instructing him to go there, find the person, and get out of Shanghai by water as soon as possible.

Qingniao glanced at Ye Ningzhen, then at Chen Zhan, as if to say something.

Ye Ningzhen shook her head: "Don't ask, let's go."

The bluebird nodded, turned and left, quickly disappearing at the end of the alley.

There are two people left.

The morning light shone in from the alley entrance, a narrow strip falling at the feet of the two people.

“Go to Chen Li’s place,” Ye Ningzhen said.

Chen Zhan nodded.

The two people walked along the Suzhou River.

Ye Ningzhen led the way, with Chen Zhan following behind. She walked a little slower than usual. After being locked in the iron chair for two days, her legs had not fully recovered, but her back was very straight, and she did not look disheveled at all from behind.

After walking for about twenty minutes, we arrived at the narrow alley along the Suzhou River in Zhabei.

The wooden door to Chen Li's courtyard was ajar, and the latch was not fastened.

The courtyard was empty. The bed was made neatly, the teapot and teacups on the table were still there, but the short stick that had been worn smooth in the corner was gone. The person had already left.

Chen Li left in a hurry, but he packed up neatly, leaving nothing behind that could be traced.

Ye Ningzhen pushed open the door and went inside. She glanced around and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Chen Zhan closed the courtyard gate, bolted the door, and went inside.

The room was small, with a bed, a table, a kerosene lamp, and a window. Outside the window was the Suzhou River, and in the distance, one could hear the sound of water and the roar of machinery from the yarn factory.

Chen Zhan sat down on the stool next to the table.

The two people were separated by a table, facing each other.

The room was quiet for a while.

Ye Ningzhen looked at him.

The lights weren't on, and the morning light streamed in through the window, illuminating his face. He looked like he was in his twenties, exactly the same as he had more than a decade ago—his eyebrows, features, and even his expression hadn't changed.

She spoke first.

When did you find out about Chen Li?

"I found out after I got to Shanghai."

"How did you find out?"

Chen Zhan briefly recounted what had happened over the past few days.

After arriving in Shanghai, they began investigating various forces and discovered that the Sanshui Gang was problematic. After keeping an eye on them for a few days, they saw Lü Desheng surrounding the Sanshui Gang, stopping a boat on the Suzhou River, and rescuing Lao Liu and his men.

Then they found Chen Li's residence, and the master and apprentice became acquainted.

As Ye Ningzhen listened, her expression slowly changed.

"You're the one who rescued someone from the water."

"Ah."

"You're the one working in Hong Kong too?"

"Yes, I saw Ruan Zhi, she's fine."

Ye Ningzhen closed her eyes briefly.

When Chen Zuyan asked her in the interrogation room, "Do you know the person who killed Lü Desheng?", she saw the sketch of the chin and her pupils contracted. At the time, she thought Chen Zuyan was bluffing her.

It turns out it was all true.

"You came all the way from Hong Kong."

"Ah."

From purging the Tsing Yi Society branch in Hong Kong, to killing Lui Tak-sang in Shanghai, rescuing people by wading through water, storming the Green Gang headquarters, following Chan Cho-yin home, and then swaggering into the Garrison Command to pick her up.

Chen Zhan spoke slowly, as if trying to express all his emotions through words. Neither of them were the type to express their emotions outwardly, and this way of communicating was filled with intense emotions, which were far more important than information.

Ye Ningzhen lowered her head and looked at the marks left by the handcuffs on her wrists.

Silent for a long time.

When she looked up again, her eyes were slightly red, but her voice was steady.

"Before you came, Chen Li didn't know you were still alive, and neither did I."

As Ye Ningzhen spoke, she intertwined her fingers with his, tightening her grip.

Chen Zhan did not respond.

"Everyone thought you died in Japan. After news of your rampage at Mount Fuji and your trespassing at the Emperor's residence spread, there was no further news of you."

She looked at him.

"For more than ten years, there has been no news at all."

"But everyone else thought you were dead, except me."

He said this in a flat tone, as if stating a fact.

But Chen Zhan could hear the implied meaning.
For more than a decade, she carried everything he left behind on her own, building networks, carrying out assassinations, and risking her life, all while believing that Chen Zhan was dead.

Chen Zhan remained silent for a few moments.

"There are some things that I couldn't contact you at that time."

Ye Ningzhen looked into his eyes for a while, but didn't ask any further questions.

She knows this person.

There's no point in asking him about things he won't talk about; when he says "there's no way," he really means there's no way.

"It's good that you're back."

After Ye Ningzhen uttered those four words, the room fell silent for a while.

The sky outside the window brightened a bit, the factory whistle sounded, and in the distance someone was calling out by the river, selling breakfast.

Chen Zhan glanced at her left shoulder.

"Let me see the injury on your shoulder."

Ye Ningzhen didn't really want him to see it: "It's been treated, stitched up, and medicated."

"Their medicine is no good."

Chen Zhan got up and walked over, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to her.

He reached out and touched the edge of the gauze on her shoulder with his fingertips.

Ye Ningzhen's body stiffened slightly, then relaxed.

He unwrapped the gauze, peeling it off layer by layer.

The wound is on the left shoulder near the collarbone. The bullet entered from the front and exited from the back, a penetrating wound. It has been stitched up, but the edges of the wound are inflamed and swollen, with a pale yellow liquid seeping from the stitches.

Ye Ningzhen turned her head to look at her wound and frowned.

"Zheng Yumin's bodyguard was shot when he chased after him and didn't have time to dodge."

Chen Zhan didn't ask any further questions.

"Turn around."

Ye Ningzhen turned around, her back to him. Chen Zhan placed his right palm on her Mingmen acupoint on her back.

The warmth of her palm caused Ye Ningzhen's back to tense slightly before slowly relaxing.

The uterus was pushed open and blood flowed.

Driven by her vital energy, a warm and gentle force seeped into her palm, flowing into her body like a warm current.

The force travels along the meridians, starting from the Mingmen point and moving up the spine, passing through the Jiaji point, passing through the Dazhui point, circling to the Jianjing point, and then diverting into the injured left shoulder.

When the warmth reached the vicinity of the wound, Ye Ningzhen took a breath.

The force circulated around the wound, slowly forcing out the accumulated blood stasis and inflammation, while simultaneously nourishing the damaged fascia and muscles.

Chen Zhan's technique was extremely slow, and his strength was controlled with great precision.

Unlike the treatment of Ruan Zhi, this method works better the closer the two are. Previously, there were always some constraints, but now there is no need to worry about that.

Ye Ningzhen closed her eyes.

The pain in my shoulder is gradually subsiding, and a warm, powerful force is flowing through my body, as if I'm being steadily supported by a pair of hands.

She felt this way very well.

More than a decade ago in Fengtian, she suffered internal injuries, and Chen Zhan treated her in the same way.

"You've lost weight, your meridians are narrower, and your blood and energy aren't as abundant as they used to be. You've made almost no progress in the past ten years; you've wasted your energy on other things."

Ye Ningzhen didn't speak. She could tell from Chen Zhan's tone that there was no blame, only heartache.

How could Chen Zhan not know why she was acting this way?

One person supporting an entire sect, after more than a decade of toil, assassinations, travel, and injuries, inevitably suffers from a depletion of vital energy and blood.

She was at the peak of the Transformation Realm, but her body couldn't withstand such a drain.

The force circulated within her body twice more, clearing the blocked meridians, before slowly withdrawing.

The moment her palm left her back, Ye Ningzhen felt a chill run down her spine.

She opened her eyes and moved her left shoulder.

The pain had lessened considerably, and I was able to lift my arm. I clenched my fist, and my strength had returned to about 70-80%.

"After taking this, the wound should be basically healed in three days."

Ye Ningzhen turned around, took the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, and swallowed it without hesitation.

"How exactly did you get me out of here?"

She had been waiting for this question for a long time.

Chen Zhan thought for a moment, then recounted what had happened. He followed Chen Zuyan home, climbed over the wall, and waited for him in the study. The two then talked.

What terms did you negotiate with him?

"Let you and the Bluebird out."

"What are the conditions?"

“I gave him a chance to kill me. Three days later, if I don’t leave, he can mobilize all his forces to come after me, with no limit on the number of people or the firepower.”

Ye Ningzhen remained silent for a long time, then her brows furrowed.

"Is that really the case? Why don't we go together? There's no need to talk about chivalry with the enemy."

Chen Zhan shook his head: "It's not about chivalry. On one hand, I want to see my limits, and on the other hand, I also want to see what clever methods the Military Intelligence Bureau has."

"We can leave, but we'll have to face each other sooner or later. We might as well take this opportunity to probe their intentions."

"In the future, I will be able to carry out assassinations without any difficulty, so you should leave first and find a place to wait for me so that I can have no worries."

After listening, Ye Ningzhen fell silent again, and after a moment asked, "Will you leave again this time?"

Chen Zhan laughed and said, "No, at the latest, I'll come to the Soviet area to find you in seven days."

"it is good."

Since Chen Zhan had promised, he would not go back on his word, just like the letter he left before going to Japan, which outlined the things to be done next and the overall development path of the headquarters.

And the last sentence.

He will come back; it's just a matter of time.

This time, Chen Zhan specified the exact time.

Chen Zuyan returned to her office, closed the door, sat down, and first made a phone call to Nanjing, reporting the situation in detail.

Upon receiving the message, the Nanjing headquarters simply replied, "Understood."

Then Chen Zuyan had someone call the Qin brothers over.

After the door closed, Chen Zuyan explained, "The person who came was Chen Zhan, the founder of the Chinese Martial Arts Association, once recognized by the Nationalist government as the best in the world. He disappeared for over a decade, but now he's back."

Qin Heng and Qin Zhun's expressions changed.

Both men had been assassins for many years and had little contact with the martial arts world, but the name Chen Zhan was extremely well-known. In the martial arts world, the weight of these three words was on par with, or even higher than, that of Sun Lutang.

His story of fighting the cherry blossoms alone is still told in the martial arts world.

"He entered your residence alone?" Qin Zhun asked.

“They sat in my chair and waited for me. There were four sentries and two guards, and none of them noticed.”

The Qin brothers exchanged a glance.

They remembered the scent emanating from the young man in the courtyard; they couldn't sense a heartbeat for over twenty seconds.

I felt this person was unfathomable at the time, and now that I know his identity, all my doubts have been answered.

"Three days?" Qin Heng asked.

"Three days."

“The two of us alone are not enough,” Qin Zhun said.

Chen Zuyan nodded: "I know, we've already contacted them in Nanjing."

He paused for a moment, then said, "They'll probably contact Yiguandao in Nanjing. I wonder if we can ask them to help."

The Qin brothers' expressions changed slightly at the same time.

Yiguandao.

They knew about the cooperation between the Military Intelligence Bureau and Yiguandao, but they had only heard the name of the person behind Yiguandao, the legendary Master of Wuji Dao.

Zhejiang.

Tiantai Mountain.

A stone house is nestled against a cliff, facing a valley, with clouds and mist swirling at its feet.

A middle-aged man sat on the bluestone at the entrance of the stone house, his eyes closed. His plain robe fluttered slightly in the mountain breeze. He had a handsome face, black hair and beard, and looked to be in his late thirties or early forties.

A messenger from the Yiguandao sect stood before him, bowing as he finished delivering the message.

The middle-aged man opened his eyes.

Extremely clear and quiet, like two ancient wells.

He smiled gently, as if he had heard good news he had been waiting for a long time: "Great, it's finally here."

The middle-aged Taoist priest faced the mountains, exhaled a breath that shot out three zhang (approximately 10 meters), and was dispersed by the wind.

He stood up, dusted off his robe, turned and walked into the stone house, then suddenly stopped and looked back at the churning clouds in the valley.

"Never mind, there's nothing to prepare."

Having said that, under the messenger's watchful gaze, he leaped down the ravine and disappeared into the clouds.

"The Dao Master?" (End of Chapter)